Wily Mo Pena
From Wiki Gonzalez
Wily Mo Pena (born 1982) was an outfielder for the Cincinnati Reds, Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals and other teams. His current whereabouts are unknown - a player search on MinorLeagueBaseball.com shows him as a player on Licey of the Dominican Winter League.
As a young player from the Dominican Republic, Pena was renowned for his tremendous toolsiness - a combination of power and speed. He got a contract as a 16-year-old with the New York Mets, which was voided when his parents failed to properly sign it. The New York Yankees then signed him to a ridiculous major-league contract that essentially guaranteed him a fulltime big league job after 4 years, and the club promptly began to hype him as a superprospect and the next great outfielder of his time. When it became apparent this wouldn't happen, they hurriedly agreed to shift him to Cincinnati in exchange for Drew Henson, and he made his big-league debut at age 20 with the Reds.
Pena periodically had power surges as a major leaguer, and an OPS+ in the 110s from 2004 through 2006 (ages 22-24) as a part-timer, but never was good defensively and was notorious for a high strikeout rate. After being traded to the Sox for Bronson Arroyo, he did much of the same for Boston and Washington, and washed out of the big leagues forever in July 2008. Boston fans seemed to think he was better in center field than in the corners, due to not having to track the ball off the bat at an angle.
On Baseball Think Factory, Pena has frequently been discussed, with even his 2009 minor-league deal with the Mets garnering a mention in Transaction Oracle. Pena topics on BBTF include whether the Yankees contract stalled his growth as a ballplayer (by forcing him to become a major leaguer without adequate minor league seasoning), and whether he was a proper object of Sox Therapy fan angst in their horrible 2006 season.
Pena's first name is pronounced "Willy," not "wily."
Also see: List of ballplayers
[edit] References
- Wily Mo on baseball-reference.com
- Wily Mo Pena Traded to Washington - Sox Therapy thread, 100+ posts. (August 17, 2007)
- Mets - Signed Pena - Transaction Oracle thread. (April 21, 2009)
